


until we meet again, (yeah, i wish you the best)

by Tsundeyama



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Denial, F/M, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, angst and fluff at the same time because i can, dimitri and byleth are sappy af, grieving but done badly, i guess there is some byleth/seteth at some point but huh, some things don't make sense but let it go please, spoilers for flayn and seteth backstory, the timeline is a mess and i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:27:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22819255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsundeyama/pseuds/Tsundeyama
Summary: she liked being the archbishop of the church once though, when she worked along side dimitri to make the country a better place. but she also likes the monastery right now as a teacher, maybe she likes it even better — or maybe what she likes the most is that no one is dead yet. she knows all about what will happen, and she also knows that she can’t save everyone no matter how hard she tries or want to.the first time she went back in time, seteth and rhea called an emergency meeting and decided to overlook it, they pretended like they weren’t aware of how byleth altered the timeline. the second time, seteth spoke in her favor, the third time it was flayn but now the three deities were starting to worry. byleth’s way of coping with the death of her husband was not healthy. it was even mourning, it was pure denial.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & My Unit | Byleth, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth & Seteth
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	until we meet again, (yeah, i wish you the best)

**Author's Note:**

> it was 9 am, and this tweet made me cry in the middle of my lecture so i thought "hey, why not screw university and write some dimileth ?" and all my friends told me not to do it but i still did it and it hurts. 
> 
> https://twitter.com/HollyFig/status/1227758778289922048?s=20
> 
> also this work is kind of a gift to héloïse and i'm sorry you told me not to write it but i still did and i love you so much don't ever forget that (also, i swear one day i'll write something about claude because you deserve to see your fav somewhere)

she’s looking at herself, not in a mirror but on a painting on the wall. she looks happy, held in dimitri’s arms, a big smile on her lips. but byleth isn’t smiling anymore, she can’t even recall when was the last time she did. she reads the plate below the painting, _'dimitri alexandre blaiddyd,king of faerghus, his wife, byleth eisner and their first born.'_

lambert jeralt. that’s the name of the baby boy she was holding in her arms on the painting. her and dimitri agreed to name their son after both their fathers, and she knows if she looks to the right, she will see another painting of her and dimitri, happiness radiating of off them both as they look at their three children. they had twin daughters too, edelgard and sothis. 

but they’re all dead now, only byleth is still alive, still looking as she did in her twenties — perhaps her hair is now a lighter shade of green. 

she’s still alive, but she would rather be dead. it’s just too cold and lonely in here without her husband, her children or even grand-children. she had to leave at some point, live as a recluse in garreg mach to keep people from noticing she wasn’t getting old at all. 

it’s a chance she could sneak up here in the middle of the night, when no one is there to notice her resemblance to the supposedly late queen of the kingdom, which, almost a thousand years later, isn’t really a kingdom anymore. the royal family is still here, but it doesn’t hold as much power as before. 

byleth eyes start to water, as she looks up at dimitri’s painting. his golden hair, his blue eye, his smile. she misses him so much. she clenches her fists tight, a faint greenish light surrounding her small form. 

**« there’s nothing in the world i wouldn’t give to see you again, dima. »** she smiles, albeit sadly. she knows what she will do is wrong and that dimitri wouldn’t ever approuve of her actions but well, what he doesn’t know can’t make him angry, right ? **« just this once. please let me rewind time just this once. »**

she asks the goddess’s powers, her powers. she doesn’t really know how to use them. never had to and definitely shouldn’t like that. they were given to her for her to protect the continent, maybe the world, not to turn back time so she can meet with her now deceased husband. there might be consequence for her actions, but she doesn’t even think about it. she only think about her sunshine. 

.·• **`*** ✿ ღ • **·˙**

not often does seteth agree to have tea with byleth. he is, after all, a busy man and it also seems that he quite dislikes the new teacher, well he _disliked_ her, past tense — he was wary of her, barely hid it in front of rhea who was always trying to get him to trust both her and the new addition to garreg mach monastery.

seteth doesn’t know how to address the issue, doesn’t know how byleth will react — at best, she will play dumb, at worst, she will break down into tears and seteth really doesn’t want anyone he cares about (because he cares at last) to cry. 

he gracefully puts his tea cup back on the table and turns to byleth, a small fatherly smile on his lips. the young woman tilts her head to the side and silently wait for her superior to start talking about the thing so obviously on his mind. seteth reaches out for her hands, squeezes them in his before finally speaking up. 

**« you can’t keep doing that. »** _his voice is soft and gentle, his smile reassuring._ **« you can’t keep using the goddess’s powers for this. »**

byleth eyes widen and she feels stupid for ever thinking that she could fool seteth, or rhea, or flayn. she wasn’t the only immortal in the monastery. she wasn’t the only deity. for a while, the former mercenary looks down at her hands, trembling in seteth’s big ones. 

seteth’s thumb run across the back of her hands, careful and gentle and supportive. 

**« i know. »** _he says._ **« believe me, i know how hard it is on you. »**

**« i don’t think you can. »** _she is not crying, but her voice is slightly wavering as she raises her eyes to meet his._ **« i don’t feel like i can go on without him. i don’t know how to. »**

she could for the first few years, the first decades, naïvely forgetting about her being some sort of demon, or goddess or whatever immortal being she was — how could she when she still looked like she was twenty-five despite being so old she stopped counting her birthdays. she thought she could live without him, barely making it through yet another day, awaiting that blessed day the reaper would come knock at her door and take her away to wherever her beloved was waiting for her. heaven ? hell ? she didn’t care as long as they were together. 

she had waited, and waited, and waited again. decades turned into centuries and even centuries didn’t heal her aching soul so she decided to use the goddess’s powers to go back in time. 

**« just once. »** _she says._ **« i swear to the goddess, i only wanted to see him again one more time but then… i don’t want to be lonely again. »**

**« i understand, but you are not like him anymore. you are one of us now and you should act like what you are, your grace. »**

**« i’m not anyone’s grace yet, don’t call me that or rhea will get upset. »**

she liked being the archbishop of the church once though, when she worked along side dimitri to make the country a better place. but she also likes the monastery right now as a teacher, maybe she likes it even better — or maybe what she likes the most is that no one is dead yet. she knows all about what will happen, and she also knows that she can’t save everyone no matter how hard she tries or want to. 

the first time she went back in time, seteth and rhea called an emergency meeting and decided to overlook it, they pretended like they weren’t aware of how byleth altered the timeline. the second time, seteth spoke in her favor, the third time it was flayn but now the three deities were starting to worry. byleth’s way of coping with her grief was not healthy. it was even coping, it was denial. 

**« cichol. »** _he dislikes that name, no one ever calls him like that anymore._ **« you were born an almost immortal being, while i was born a human or else i wouldn’t have let myself fall in love with anyone. you can’t possibly understand what it’s like to see the person you love age and die and wait for your turn and the reaper never coming for you. »** _her eyes finally water._ **« i saw my children die of old age when i still looked twenty-one. »**

**« and you think coming back will help you love dimitri less ? i’m sorry to say that, but you will love him forever and yes it will hurt but that’s just how it is. you have to move on, and i know it’s hard when you feel like you’re missing half of your soul, trust me i know, but rewinding time will not help you grieve. »**

his tone is scolding, much like a father would scold an unreasonable child. probably that jeralt would say the same if he knew too. 

just like that, byleth is crying and she honestly can’t remember the last time she cried so much — maybe it was on dimitri’s deathbed. 

**« tell me what i’m supposed to do then. »** _she sobs, wiping at her tears._ **« i’m so lost seteth, centuries couldn’t make it better, how am i supposed to believe that everything will get better eventually. »**

seteth comes closer, holds her in his arms and soothes her. she feels safe against him, she feels understood. seteth is the closest thing she will have to family one day, in about a century — him and rhea and flayn. 

**« you know, i had a wife once. »** _he confesses._ **« i loved her, and still love her more than anything. she passed away on the battlefield because i couldn’t protect her and even though i still have our daughter with me, and goddess please protect cethleann from any harm, i still miss her. it still hurts to think about her. i know i will never love anyone else like i loved her but still i move on. don’t you think that’s what she would have wanted. don’t you think that’s what dimitri would want for you ? »**

byleth shakes her head. seteth is right, but when is he not ? 

.·• **`*** ✿ ღ • **·˙**

later that week, sometimes after class, annette comes up to byleth as she erases her writing on the chalkboard. 

**« if you don’t mind me asking professor, i wanted to ask you about seteth. »** _the redhead inquires._ **« you seem awfully close to each other lately, i just wondered if— »**

**« come on, annette, that’s none of our business. »** _dimitri, who just happened to overhear the conversation cuts her, a slight blush on his cheeks._ **« i’m sorry professor. »**

**« it’s okay dimitri, i don’t mind. seteth is something like family to me i guess, and i just realized how similar we are to one another. he is a dear friend of mine, but that’s all there is to it. »**

the teacher answers with a smile, both because she feels better now that seteth addressed her about the use she made of her powers, and because she noticed dimitri’s uneasiness and interest. the blond may be slightly jealous of her relationship with other boys, he likes to believe he is her favorite. 

he is quick to forget about his jealousy when he witnesses her smile, so rare, so bright, so beautiful. his blush spreads up to his ears as he murmurs : 

**« you are so pretty when you smile. »** _and annette laughs next to him, fully aware of her leader’s crush on their teacher — who wasn’t._

**« thank you. i’ll try to smile more since you seem to like it. »**

.·• **`*** ✿ ღ • **·˙**

dimitri is a little — no, scratch that, he is _very_ anxious as he waits for byleth in the goddess’s tower. there’s a ring is his coat pocket, a ring he spent hours choosing. 

he feels stupid. maybe he shouldn’t propose after all. he and byleth, they’re not even together, and sure he is almost certain she has some feelings for him, but still maybe he shouldn’t. maybe it’s too soon ? maybe he should ask her out on a date first ? but then again, dimitri will soon bee the king of faergus, and of fódlan and he isn’t sure he is going to have the luxury of dating around so much. also, they just survived a war and if anything like that was to happen again … he doesn’t want to die, or for her to die, before they could get married. 

she almost runs in, and dimitri doesn’t have the time to speak, just the time to catch her as she jumps in his arms. the prince’s face is burning up and his heart, oh his heart is beating so fast it hurts. it’s been a while since the two haven’t had time alone together but never did she act like this with him, alone or not. never did she hold him and buried her face in the crook of his neck, so close dimitri can feel her smile.

she never kissed him so fiercely, never kissed him at all actually. he doesn’t hesitate to kiss her back, he’s been wanting to do it for years. 

**« marry me, »** _she breathes out between two kisses,_ **« please, say yes. »**

**« i… yes. yes i’ll marry you. of course i’ll marry you. »**

dimitri doesn’t understand, he was supposed to be the one to ask for her hand in marriage, but well, the end result was the same. they were getting married. 

.·• **`*** ✿ ღ • **·˙**

leaning on her elbow, the now archbishop of seiros gaze upon the peaceful expression of her sleeping husband. she’s smiling, gently playing with the soft blond tresses splattered on his pillows. _**« i love you, »** _she whispers, her voice more tender than ever. 

dimitri opens his one seeing eye and mimics her smile, raising a hand to caress her cheek. _**« and i as well, my beloved, »**_ he mumbles, not completely awake yet. byleth’s smile grows wider as she leans down again, snuggles against her lover’s chest and let his arms wrap around her waist, keeping her close and safe. she can feel his heart beat against her, his blood pump in his veins through the light clothing of their satin pajamas. 

it’s quiet, and she doesn’t think she will ever have enough of those peaceful moment when it’s just her and him, byleth and dimitri and not the archbishop and the young king of fódlan — soon enough, they won’t have time for themselves anymore, not with the children running around. she can’t wait to have kids with him though, as she remembers the loving smiles he always gave their children. they were dimi’s and her entire world. 

and she doesn’t exactly know why, but she is reminded of seteth (who is now her precious aid, helping her get used to her job as archbishop of the church of seiros) and of the talk they had maybe ten years ago. 

**« dima, love… »** _she starts, feathering abstract shapes over his chest._ **« i always wondered… »**

**« wondered about what ? »**

**« what if i could… what if i could turn back time and… be a better friend for you. a better teacher ? what if i could help you sooner, what if i found a way to save everyone ? »**

**« can you, though ? »** _he takes her hand in his, looking in her eyes, with the usual fondness._ **« you’ve helped me enough, i wouldn’t be alive today if not for you… if you hadn’t come back. i’ll be forever grateful. »**

the king turns around so he can properly face his wife and cradle her face in his hands. she scrunches her nose, adorably so, and dimitri can’t help but to kiss the tip of her nose. 

**« tell me, if you were to turn back time, would you be happy ? »**

**« if that means being with you, then yes. »** _she answers._ **« i can’t live without you, you know that, right ? »**

**« and i without you. »** _a laugh resonates in the room and byleth finds it the most beautiful sound she ever got to hear._ **« i can only wish you’ll outlive me. »**

he’s better than he was before but he is sure of one thing : he won’t be able to go on without her. she’s the only thing that ever held him together, the reason he regained and keeps his sanity (the five years they spent appart are proof of it).

**« i would die without you. »** _he says,_ **« but you are strong, perhaps stronger than i’ll ever be. and i know you’ll be fine without me. »**

**« i won’t. »** _she knows, she tried without him and she was a wreck._ **« i’ll miss you too much. you’re what i live for. »**

she lives to be his servant, archbishop or not, she still is the same mercenary who pledged allegiance to the prince of fódlan, then to the same man when he became king. 

**« let’s make a promise, my beloved. »** _he smiles, holding her hands in his._ **« if you indeed outlive me, you’ll have to keep on living so that you can share stories with me of our children and grand-children when we meet again. no matter how long it will take, we’ll meet again, i’m sure of it. you’ll tell me all about the fódlan i don’t know. and i’ll do the same if you die before me. »**

she doesn’t answer, because she knows that she won’t die soon, maybe not ever. she’s not sure she can promise him to meet in the afterlife, doesn’t now if she’ll have one, no matter how desperately she wishes for one. dimitri kisses her knuckles. 

**« promise me that you’ll go on, always. »** _and in this moment, it feels like he knows._ **« promise me and know that my love for you is eternal and undying. you’ll always have my heart, even when i’m not here anymore. »**

and the tears are falling as byleth tightens her hold on dimitri’s hand. she buries her face against their joint hands as she sobs. 

**« i promise. »**

.·• **`*** ✿ ღ • **·˙**

she’s looking at herself, not in a mirror but on this painting on the wall. she looks happy, held in dimitri’s arms, a big smile on her lips as she is, herself, holding lambert jeralt in her arms. he mustn’t have been older than a few month old and he was named after her, and dimitri’s fathers. 

she mimics her past smile, and had she not been alone in the hallways of the royal palace of fhirdiad, she would have been found out. she hasn’t aged since then —her hair is probably just a lighter shade of green, at most. 

byleth utters a prayer for the soul of her late husband, wishing for his eternal happiness in heaven. that’s what he deserves. 

**« dearest ? »**

seteth calls from the other side of the hallway, not jealous in the slightest, only concerned about the well being of his maybe more than friend. cethleann’s mother is the love of his life, just like dimitri is byleth’s, and no one could ever replace them but they’re happy together. he calls her _« his dearest »_ and she calls him _« her sweetheart »._

byleth avert her eyes from the paintings to gesture him that she’ll be here in a minute before turning back to dimitri’s image once again. she smiles this time, holds the warm feeling close to her still un-beating heart. 

**« until we meet again, my beloved. »**

and then she’s gone, running off to catch seteth outstretched hand. it’s been centuries, and she still doesn’t know for sure if she’s going to die someday, but she’ll wait for death while filling notebooks with the stories she wants to tell dimitri when they, if they, meet again. 

**Author's Note:**

> i love dimitri, please love baby boar prince.


End file.
